A Little Too Late
by hannahb9202
Summary: Caryl oneshot. Warning: Character Death. Written for USS Caryl's tumblr challenge. Please read and review.


**A/N: I do not own the Walking Dead or any of the characters. Please read and review!**

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"Daryl, please. Please don't go. I have to tell you. I have to get this out before it's too late."

_Flashback_

"Carol, I can't be doin' this anymore."

"I know." Her voice was quiet, but the whisper reached his ears. And he knew she knew. He didn't need to explain himself, anymore. He didn't need to give her a long, painful talk on why their relationship could not continue. She already knew. He could see the pain in her eyes. The salty tears brimming at the edges of the blue crystals he had grown so fond of. He couldn't sit in the cell with her any longer. If he saw her cry, it could threaten his resolve. He might change his mind.

She knew it was coming. He had been acting cold to her the past few days. Not returning to her cell like he had on so many nights. Not coming in to hold her, or kiss her, or make love to her. She knew. She had always known.

He wished he could change things. Wished he had met her under different circumstances. Wished he wasn't who he was. Any little change in past events could make them stronger. But, now it was too late. Too much had happened. He had let her get too close. And now, she was going to suffer the consequences. He was too.

Everything had been fine, for awhile. They had gathered up the courage to finally let their walls down. At least, around each other. It had been awkward and embarrassing. But, they had made it work. Hell, how could they not have tried?

They had been together. Sleeping in the same cell. Or not sleeping. Whichever they felt like doing, they were free to be themselves. The rest of the group knew they were together. But, they didn't say anything. They didn't say anything about the way Daryl seemed to smile more and engage in conversation. They didn't say anything about the way Carol had pepped up, humming while she did mundane chores.

But, everything always changes. He had been on a run when the walkers had first started piling in. He hadn't been there for her. He got back in time. He had a feeling something was wrong and he'd been right. When he had gotten close to her cell and saw two walkers about to walk into the room, something caught his eye. A child, not much younger than Carl, about to be bitten and eaten alive by the dead. He froze. Save Carol or save the child. Save Carol or save the child.

By the time he had come to his senses, it was too late. Carol had saved herself. The child hadn't been so lucky. It was a vision that would be burned into his brain for years to come.

When she had made her way out of the cell, she had seen him. He had his back turned away from her cell. To the other side of her, she saw a mutilated body. One of the children from Woodbury. And a walker. A walker with an arrow in the back of it's head.

She had run towards Daryl. Touching his shoulder. But, he hadn't recognized her frail hands. His head was somewhere else, now. He had turned quickly. Too quickly. His body went full force into hers and she fell to the ground.

She looked up to him, about to speak. But, when she saw his eyes, she couldn't. That was the moment she knew.

The next few days were a whirlwind. They had beat the threat. All of them. But, not without suffering losses. None from her tight-knit group, but a few from Woodbury. Three nights went by. Three nights before Daryl finally gathered the courage to tell her what she already knew.

"Carol, I can't be doin' this anymore."

_End Flashback_

It had been two months since that night. Two months of Carol trying to pretend she was okay. Two months of Daryl going over everything in his head, actively avoiding Carol. The played nice in front of the rest of the group. Never seeing one another alone since that night.

But, it was only a matter of time before another tragedy struck. That was what they had all learned. The price for safety was knowing that you were never truly safe.

He never told her what had happened. The exact details, but she knew. Maybe not everything, but she knew enough.

Tired of the endless nights alone, Carol got out of bed. She put on her shoes and walked down the stairs to the main level of the prison. Careful to be quiet and not wake anyone, she snuck outside. Glenn and Maggie were on watch and for once, she noticed, they were actually watching.

A knot twisted in her stomach at the sight of the eery sky. She should have gone back in. But, she didn't. She kept walking. Kept moving her feet towards the edge of the fence. The walkers were starting to pileup. As the banged their hands and faces onto the fence, trying to break their way in, she turned her back. Headed back up to the warmth of the prison doors. Home. That was what she had called it. She wasn't sure if she meant it anymore. She knew everyone cared for her. She had almost taken over the mother role of the group. And she cared for everyone, too. She loved them. But, she missed him.

When she returned into the prison, she should have gone back to her cell. But, she didn't.

She wasn't sure why, but her feet were taking her somewhere else. Somewhere she hadn't been in a long time. The tombs. Maybe, it was God brining her to her death as if it were her time to go. Maybe. it was the fact that he had found her there. That he had saved her there. There were plenty of maybes that no one could ever answer, now.

She had reached her destination. Her body collapsed onto the floor. Exhaustion, regret, pain. All the reasons combined made her want to curl up in a ball and never move again. What she didn't realize was how close that was to happening.

Her mind swirled into the happy thoughts. The times with Sophia before all of this had happened. Before the world had literally become Hell on Earth. The time with Daryl, the time even before they had begun their romantic relationship. The times of them flirting. The times she would push him, just to see how close she could get.

Surrounded by thoughts of him and her little girl, she didn't hear the low grumbling from the other end of the tombs. She didn't hear the slow dragging footsteps. She didn't hear the alter making it's way to her.

Too late. Those two words were often thought about. Too late to save herself from Ed. Too late to save her little girl. Too late to save anything she had with Daryl. And too late to save herself.

The walker was almost right next to her before she saw it. She couldn't get her feet to move quick enough and the walker had fallen on top of her. Making it impossible to move. She struggled to get her knife out of her belt, while trying to hold the walker off. It's growling and moaning was coming closer to her face, despite all her attempts to fight back. She was strong, but not that strong.

Her fingers closed around the handle of the blade and she pulled and tugged. Just as she felt the knife coming free from under the walker's body, she felt the sharp pain of teeth in her neck.

Her knife was free and jammed into the skull of the now, truly dead walker. But, her neck was bleeding, not enough to die from blood loss, but enough to make her turn.

She forced herself to get up. She needed to get back to the group before she turned. She didn't have a gun and she wasn't sure she would have the courage to stab herself forcefully enough in the head to reach her brain. She needed one of them to make sure she didn't become one of the things her little girl had fallen prey to.

She drug her her body, step by step. Straight to her cell. The place she never should have left. She knew that not much time had passed as she could tell no one had awoken, yet. She stopped at the cell only two doors away from her.

"Hershel…" Her voice was louder than a whisper, but not loud enough to stir any other members through the prison. But, yet again, she had been wrong. She heard rustling on the perch and it took everything she had not to shout out his name.

Hershel's head jolted up at the sound of his name. He could see her standing there. "Carol, what's going on? Are you al-?" He couldn't finished the sentence, having already stood and making his way over to her, he saw the blood from her neck. He knew, just as she did.

"Let's get you to your cell, hmm?" His voice was soft and sad. Full of fear for her and pain for what the group was going to face tomorrow. He didn't bother to grab his crutches. The walk being too short and the time being all of importance. He used all the strength he could muster to get himself to her cell, holding onto her at the same time.

The commotion of Hershel's feet weighing down on the floor with every step had woken him completely. Not that he ever really slept, anyhow. He knew the sound wasn't enough to wake anyone else. But, his perch wasn't far from the old man's room. He saw Hershel. And someone else. Carol.

His mind tried to figure out the easily solvable puzzle. Why Carol would be waking up Hershel at this hour of the night, why Hershel would be escorting Carol back to her room. He knew.

He jumped down from the perch and made his way to the room he hadn't been in for two months, now. His feet were light and they had broken out into a small jog. He had to know what they were doing, even if he already knew.

He leaned into the door frame of Carol's cell. He saw Hershel lay her down on the bed, saw her eyes meet his own as she poked her head out from behind Hershel's shoulder. He saw the bite mark on her neck. He went to turn away. He couldn't believe it. Didn't want to believe it. He had failed her. Despite all of his attempts to keep her safe, he had failed her.

"Daryl, please. Please don't go. I have to tell you. I have to get this out before it's too late."

Her voice rung in his ears and he couldn't force himself out of the cell. He turned his body back around.

"I'll wait outside." Hershel spoke, knowing that they needed time. No matter how little time they had.

He waited till Hershel was out of the room to move his body to the edge of the bed. He stood, staring down at her. Watching as her tears strolled down her cheeks. Watching as the blood oozed onto her sheets. Watching, waiting. Waiting to wake up and realize it was all a nightmare. Waiting for her to laugh as he clumsily made his was into her bed. Waiting for the last two months to disappear. Waiting for everything to return to normal. But, if he waited too long, she would be gone.

"Carol, I - I.." He couldn't find words. He could only stare at her.

"I know." She always knew. "Daryl, you need to listen to me. This is not your fault. So, do not ever blame yourself. I know that is what you are going to do, but it's not. This is my fault. I wasn't thinking. I should have never gone to the tombs myself. I should have been more careful. This is not your fault, Daryl Dixon. Do you understand me?" She waited for him to object, but when he didn't she continued, despite the pain she was in. "I know why you had to stop things between us. I know it wasn't because you quit loving me. I know it wasn't because you got tired of me. I know something happened that night. I know you were only trying to protect all of the group and not just me when you made that decision. You have to promise me, you won't stop looking out for them. You have to promise me that you won't run away from them. They need you. And I need you to do something for me. I need you to kiss me. I need you to hold me one last time. And then, I need you to walk out of that door. Do you understand?"

He couldn't find his voice. Nothing could make him speak. But, he felt himself kneeling down to the side of the bed. Felt himself put his arms around his woman. Felt himself bring in her tight. He could feel the sob that left her lips and the one that left his own. He could feel the blood from her neck seeping onto his shirt. He could feel himself drawing back just enough to put her face to his. He could feel her lips on his own. Urgent and depending. He could feel it all.

She brought her face away from him. "Go. Daryl, go now."

He thought about arguing with her, but he knew she was right. He couldn't be the one to kill her. And he definitely couldn't see her turn. He gave her a nod and started walking out of the room. But, his feet stopped, only for a moment. "I love ya, pookie." He turned his head over his shoulder, taking in the smile that had formed on her lips. Knowing it was the last time he would ever see it.

"I love you, too." She nodded her head at him and watched as he took the final steps out of her room.

Hershel reappeared within seconds and she could tell he had been crying. She saw the glistening in his cheeks and the red in his eyes. "Put a pillow over my head. It will muffle the sound. And let the group know that I loved them. I loved all of them." She watched as he faltered, pulling out the gun. "Hershel, it's okay. You will all be okay. Make sure that he listens to me. Make sure he doesn't turn away from everyone." She only saw Hershel nod before she took her own pillow and placed it over her head.

Then, total darkness.


End file.
